Clean Energy Gold Rush

I missed the discussion at the Linda Norris Auditorium last week, but I have just seen a short, concise report on the Clean Energy Gold Rush that I want to share.

Working from the perspective that we need to transform our economy from its fossil-fuel dependence to one based primarily on a clean energy platform, a part of the discussion I find most interesting and crucial concerns the impact of renewables and efficiency. We are, after all, still mired in a recession created in no small measure by an unrealistic and expansive suburban home market fed by our addiction to motor vehicles and sprawling development.

If the climate change skeptics and deniers are successful in blocking forward progress in the reduction of fossil fuel usage, the primary result will be continued reliance on coal, and other non-renewable resources. That will include our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, which will mandate that we remain involved in numerous wars and lesser military operations designed to keep open the access our car-based lifestyles demand.

Meanwhile, some of the world’s economic powerhouses seem to be heading in another direction. Northern Europe has been in the forefront for years. Now China is starting to move, with clear plans to make itself the global leader in the export of clean energy technologies. Ironically, many of those innovations will be developed in universities and companies here, but the manufacturing operations, and the jobs, will be created elsewhere. I believe there is still time to both develop and manufacture our fair share of the clean energy revolution. So it’s not just a moral question: do we have the right to pollute the planet to maintain an early-21st Century lifestyle, no matter what the impact on future generations? Or can we transform the way we do business, and be on the leading edge of future energy systems that allow us to protect our planet and our families, and still make a decent living at the same time.

I recommend the following article by Michael Northrop, the director of the sustainable development program at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/fslr_a-clean-energy-gold-rush-770614.html

Jeff Jones

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